name is the common name used for the plot element. Since it is also likely to be the title of the article, this field can be omitted. If omitted, the infobox title will match the article's title.

colour can be used to set the title and header colors. The infobox is set up to default to "silver". The entry in this field will normally be in the format "#eeddcc" (used for the example here), but {{Infobox television/colour}} or similar can also be used.

Placing images in the infobox uses two fields:

image which is just the filname of the image. The template will add the markup to show the image.

Example: image= example.jpg

imagesize which is the width the image will display at. The template will only accept a number here. If left empty or if a string (such as "225px") is entered, the image will default to 250px wide.

If you find the image to be too tall, reduce the size below 250px.

The parameter is capped at maximum width of 250. Entering values grater than this will result in the default setting being used.

The caption will appear below the image.

To keep in line with Wikipedia:Alternative text for images, alt needs to be updated with the "text alternative" of the image. This is not the same as the caption. It should also be kept short, but needs to be descriptive of the image.

source is the work of fiction - individual, series, or franchise - which featured the subject of the article. This is a required field.

source_type specifies what exactly the source is. The template currently is set up to tailor some text for the following "source types":

TV - for a television series

films - for a series of 2 or more films

novels - for a series of prose stories, this is not limited to just "novels"

franchise - for a source that encompasses multiple media

company is either the production company for a television show or film, or the publisher.

first is where the subject first appears. Note that this is not to reflect the in-story timeline, but instead the first published, aired, or released work to feature the plot element. This should be the title of the series, novel, film, etc. that first featured the plot element, and the template will automatically italicize it. This is a required field.

first_ep is the episode within a television series which introduces the plot element. The template will automatically put the title in quotes.

first_type is a switch that should be set for "TV" or "film" if the first appearance was in a TV show or a film.

date is the date when the first appearance was published, released, or originally aired.

creator should list the creator of the overall work. In cases of franchises, television shows, film series and the like this should be the general creator(s) of the base work.

episode_creatorshould list the creator(s) of the specific episode or story that introduces the plot element.

genre is the genre of the underlying work.

type is the type of plot element that the subject is. This should be concise and clearly cover what the plot element is.